Lately, I’ve been going through an odd phase in what music I listen to.

It started out as the rediscovering of my love for the band Day6 as they reminded me of the music I used to listen to before I got into Hallyu. As I listened to the lyrics, learned of the background behind the music, and really listened to what I was hearing did I start to think about why and how I connected this music more than I did to others. This somehow led to opening up an old library of my music – artists like Kina Grannis, David Choi, and AJ Rafael – but not the new things. It was all the old music, the stuff I lived off in high school. These songs built up the soundtrack of my junior year in high school.

I grew up listening to a number of different things – ranging from whatever my parents listened to all the way to the music I discovered myself, love songs with meanings I understood but not really? Living in the age of angsty love songs was not entirely relatable when you’re a freshman in high school sans first kiss, sans first relationship, sans any exposure to what love and romance really is outside of movies and books.

However, there was something else I grew up with, but this was something that continued to grow with me as the scene evolved as I grew up yet it somehow maintained a sense of reliability in that I will always understand what they’re talking about.

I first stumbled across what was to become Wong Fu Productions when my dad presented me with a video called “Yellow Fever.” It was satirical. It was funny. It was relatable? It was something hilarious to watch with my dad, and it was honestly one of the first really amazing examples of Asian American produced media that I was able to enjoy. From there, I eventually learned of their other videos, who they were, etc. And again, from there, I was able to learn some new things about how life worked. Around the time their video “Strangers Again” was released, I was in my second relationship. Around that time, this video was relatable but only certain aspects. Then came my first college relationship – well, the tail end of it. Again, it was more than relatable and moreover relevant to how I felt. The stages of a relationship and how it was a continuous cycle – it was all true. How could they have made this more relevant to my life? Only it wasn’t just to my life; it was relevant to everyone who watched, and that was why it was so popular. Fast forward to the end my first love, and suddenly, this video pops up again out of the blue and it’s relevant.

Again.

Again? And again and again and again – this video was always there to remind me that, hey, I’m not alone in this. These stages of romance aren’t unusual. Everyone goes through these things.

So, here I am in 2017, watching “When It Counts” almost five years later. I remember waiting for these episodes to be released, and now here I am yet again. I also remember one year while in Los Angeles, I saw Wes Chan, one of the main faces of Wong Fu, standing across the venue, and I was so in awe I couldn’t bring myself to move.

I was reminded of how influential Wong Fu truly was even at the most random time. I took the bus up to New York, a six hour drive with no sleep until I finally got to the venue with tickets to see Day6 live. Jae Park, the band’s vocalist brought up the story of how he started his journey to really wanting to be a musician, and he brought up his encounter with Phil of Wong Fu.

I was in an audience of younger girls, so I had to wonder if they’d had the same memories of Wong Fu that I did. But when Jae said that the words he’d received that day at a meet and greet were what pushed him forward, it reopened my eyes to how continuously influential Wong Fu was.

What did the presence of Wong Fu in my life do for me?

I wanted to create.

I wanted to be influential.

I wanted to use my passion – writing – to make people feel a certain way, think different things, and believe that they weren’t alone.

I wanted to be somebody beyond what everyone assumed I would be.

Whether it’s 2011 – 2015 – 2017, I’ll still be watching Wong Fu videos when I need them the most. It could be when I have (yet another) platonic crush that will never be anything more or it could be when I’m starting to fall in love again.

They’ll always be there.

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